Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I haven’t been reporting much on the House Dems’ negotiations on putting together Iraq legislation, in large part because I thought it best to wait and see what they put together. I’ll have more details tomorrow, but for now, this AP report emphasizes the key detail: the Dems’ spending measure requires the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of next year.
* On a related note, here’s the poll question and result of the day, from the latest NBC/WSJ poll (.pdf): “What concerns you more — that Congress will go too far in pressing the President to reduce troop levels in Iraq, or that Congress will not go far enough in pressing the President to reduce troop levels in Iraq?” A majority, 51%, said they’re concerned Congress will not go far enough, while 41% worried about the opposite.
* I get the distinct impression that Joe Lieberman and Mitch McConnell don’t fully appreciate what constitutes a “constitutional crisis.”
* Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who clearly is in trouble as a result of the prosecutor purge scandal, has hired a criminal defense attorney. That’s a good move — but it’s worth noting that it’s the same lawyer who defended Duke Cunningham. Irony or ironies, Domenici’s lawyer dealt with ousted prosecutor Carol Lam in the Cunningham case.
* Speaking of the prosecutor purge, I’m literally amazed that ABC and NBC have completely ignored the story. That’s inexcusable.
* In still other purge news, the NYT had a good editorial on the subject today: “Congress must keep demanding answers. It must find out who decided to fire these prosecutors and why, and who may have authorized putting pressure on Mr. Cummins. And it must look into whether Senator Domenici and Representatives Wilson and Hastings violated ethics rules that forbid this sort of interference. We hope the House committee will not be deterred by the fact that Mr. Hastings is its ranking Republican. The Justice Department also needs to open its own investigation. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s claim that these prosecutors were fired for poor performance was always difficult to believe. Now it’s impossible.”
* A fourth newspaper has dropped Ann Coulter’s column.
* David Gergen: “This is an administration that has been mostly free of scandal over the last six years and now they have the taint that they cannot erase.” Gergen has been in the United States for the last six years, has he not?
* Gergen’s colleague, Michael Barone, seems more in touch with reality: “What’s going on in Washington is not sufficiently removed from the routine doings of a tawdry Third World dictatorship to give any American comfort.”
* A DC madam who has threatened to go public with details about her former client will be hit with a gag order if federal prosecutors are successful. I’m not an expert, but doesn’t that seem unusual?
* The House will vote by the end of March on a bill giving the District of Columbia “a full vote in the chamber,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced yesterday. Good.
* The AP reports today, “An important ally when George W. Bush first won the presidency, the Christian Coalition of America says it’s poised again to help a conservative win the White House. Whether it can back up that pledge is an open question.” Actually, I’ll close it — no, it can’t back up the pledge.
* I can’t believe Marvel killed Captain America.
* Considering how much the far-right hates Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, it’s a pleasant surprise to see the State Department utilize him for international public relations.
* And finally, it appears the U.S. Mint omitted the words “In God We Trust” from some of the new presidential dollar coins. Before Dobson & Co. have a fit, the omission was accidental and corrected — but if you happen to catch one of the coins without IGWT, it’s fairly valuable, selling for as much as $50.
If these items aren’t of any interest, consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.